In recent years the development and utilization of the remote reading of meters, dials, and other data output devices has increased dramatically. One area of such development is in the remote reading of utility meters. Once the data is available on the visual indicators, it must be gathered by encoders or transducers operatively connected to the meter face and forwarded to an interrogation center or data bank. At that point the data is accumulated and processed according to prescribed programs. One such encoder is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,454 to Cain.
Devices for mounting or connecting such sensors to the meter face have varied widely depending upon the type of meter and sensor. A universal problem with many types of meters and sensors has been the ability to mount the sensor to the face of the data output device in a way that eliminates or at least reduces the alignment error. In that regard, to electronically read the information from the meter face requires a substantial degree of precision from the standpoint of where the sensor is located with respect to the dial to be read. The problem is compounded when one recognizes that installation of the sensing apparatus may be carried out in the field by personnel having minimum training.
When installing transducers or encoders over the face of utility meters and the like, difficulties are often encountered in obtaining alignment of the sensor to the meter dial which is necessary in order to obtain accurate data from the sensor.
Prior to development of the present invention there was no known way to consistently provide for an easy and indeed critical alignment of an encoder or sensor over the dial face of a utility meter in an efficient, economical way. The present applicant was seeking a means of accomplishing such installation by existing personnel absent sophisticated and expensive training, and to make such installation essentially "error proof".
The present invention is thus directed to a means for housing an encoder or other electrical sensing device and for easily, quickly, and precisely mounting the housing on a visual indicator or output meter. In a preferred embodiment the invention is directed to the design of such a housing and to the mounting thereof in such critical alignment as to substantially eliminate errors in computation of data. The mounting apparatus of the present invention is further designed to overcome the likelihood of human error in aligning the encoder over the dials by providing a virtually "foolproof" means for installation.
Such installation is accomplished by means of a cooperating pair of unique mounting clips designed to be quickly and simply snapped onto an existing element of a standard utility meter. Because of the way the clips are designed, the subsequent mounting of the encoder housing in proper position is automatic and substantially error proof.
Basically, the present invention includes a housing which is essentially a molded frame for supporting the encoder itself, which housing can only be attached to the aforementioned mounting clips in one position. The clips include apertures therethrough or notches for receiving a mounting post, screw or other fastening member extending from the housing. When the housing is aligned with the apertures on the clips after the clips are snapped on the meter, and the attaching means (screws, mounting posts, and the like) inserted into the apertures, the encoder which is visibly framed in the housing will be critically aligned over the meter dials.
Conventional utility meters are generally similar in design as far as the manner in which the meter hands are attached to the drive gears. The dial faces and rotating meter hands are mounted on a face plate, arranged such that they provide a reading of kilowatt hours of electrical usage in a residential or other facility. Other meters provide data on use of water, gas, etc., all of which data is gathered periodically by the utility company. To the rear of the face plate and spaced therefrom, is a support plate which supports the gears and other components which are operatively connected to the rotating meter hands. The two plates (face plate and support plate) serve as bearings for the dial shafts, and are attached to each other by a plurality of posts, generally a pair on each side, approximately 3/8 of an inch long. The posts serve to join the two plates, to space them sufficiently apart to allow room for the gears and other operative components, and to provide fixed reference points with respect to which the rotating shafts are located during fabrication of the meter.
Principally because of the last of the aforementioned functions, the aforesaid pairs of posts on the meter provide a desirable attachment means for the uniquely designed clips of the present invention. Thus, in use, it is a simple operation for personnel to first snap a clip on each pair of spacing posts, align the housing on the clips and join the aligned housing and clips with screws, mounting posts, or other similar joining techniques. Once secured in such a way, the sensor is automatically and precisely aligned with the meter dials. The remainder of the installation procedure is a matter of connecting the electrical leads from the sensor to the interrogation unit, a procedure which does not form part of the present invention.